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My First Ofsted Visit: What to Expect and Lessons Learned Along the Way
Five years into my teaching career and I finally experienced my first Ofsted inspection. Some people have already gone through as many as 3 inspections by this point in their careers so I was lucky to avoid it for this long in a way. But that only helped to build the pressure and the dread as so much seems to rest on those 3 days. I went through stress, doubt, adrenaline, and in the end: elation as it proved to be an outstanding experience after all!
Ofsted: The Big Bad Wolf!
The stress that accompanies an Ofsted visit is legendary. All I had heard prior to their visit is that you’re in for the worst week of your life; that the night before you will stay late making sure your classroom is spic and span, books are all marked, and your lessons are up to the highest standard.
However, times have changed since the last time my school went through an inspection. No longer are teachers judged as individuals, but the different areas of the school are measured for the quality of their intent, implementation, and impact (a bit ambiguous I know).
But this ‘change’ in Ofsted’s function brings more bad news than good, with hundreds of schools losing their ‘outstanding’ status as the framework aims to raise standards across the country. In…
